Remember, kids, every single thing the government does comes directly from the desk of Obama. Amber alerts? Obama. IRS audit? Personally commanded by Obama. Long lines at the DMV? Orders from Obama. Speeding ticket? That one also comes courtesy of Obama.

dustman81:First off, AT&T is just now doing what the other major cell providers have been doing for awhile.

I'm looking at my Sprint iPhone and seeing the very same "Government Alerts" menu pictured in the screen shot. Didn't know it was there, but I'm fine with getting Amber Alerts and such. As long as the president doesn't bombard me with "poop is coming out" alerts, what the heck.

Mad_Radhu:At least you can turn off Amber Alerts for the phone. My TiVo stops whatever I am watching and shows me an Atari 2600 quality graphic with a deeply distorted, staticy voice from the ether intoning the details whenever someone in the Seattle metro has a custody dispute make a turn for the worst (which seems like the majority of the alerts).

Yep. Because it's everyone's problem when DeWayne steals his babby from La Donna and heads for Wenatchee.

Here's a tl;dr PDF if you're really curious. Dated April 9, 2008 and describing the FCC's implementation of the Commercial Mobile Alert System in response to the 2006 Warning, Alert, and Response Network act. Basically a "presidential alert" appears to be any sort of "shiat just got real" message that the president chooses to send out.

/bolded to point out that this system is yet another example of Obama's reckless use of his magical time machine

Xaneidolon:Gone are the days of actually owning a device that you have purchased.

Like how getting an Emergency Alert System test message over the radio on your car or on your TV means you don't really own your TV?

That's what this is, after all. A cell phone is a radio transmitter/receiver, just one that accesses the telephone network. These messages are just part of the same alert system. If, in some horrible catastrophe, the President needed to put out an emergency message to the American people, would you not want him to have a way to do so?

You have been griping about weekly EAS tests interfering with ownership of your radios and TV's right?

Wow. Those comments were a depressing read. My favorite, however was a person saying AT&T is going to lose so much business over this which became an allegory about how Carbonite is dying after they removed their Rush Limbaugh spots.

I didn't know about the "presidential alerts" category though. How long before we get one of those about the "national emergency" of some abortion or gun control related legislation that we urgently need to write our congressmen about?

probably never. although I do share your fears that a GOP president will learn to abuse the system for petty personal and/or political gain.